mennä metsään
Literally to go into the forest
Means to go wrong, to fail, to miss the mark
English idiom go south
Example Koko suunnitelma meni pahasti metsään.
The whole plan went badly wrong.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 26 most common Finnish idioms, ranked by how often you will actually meet them, each with its literal translation, real meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Finnish idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, mennä metsään literally means "to go into the forest" but is used to mean to go wrong, to fail, to miss the mark. This free page ranks the 26 most common Finnish idioms by how often you meet them, each with its literal translation, meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation.
All 26 idioms, most common first.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
mennä metsään
Literally to go into the forest
Means to go wrong, to fail, to miss the mark
English idiom go south
Example Koko suunnitelma meni pahasti metsään.
The whole plan went badly wrong.
olla pihalla
Literally to be in the yard
Means to be clueless, to have no idea what is going on
English idiom be all at sea
Example En ymmärtänyt kokouksessa mitään, olin täysin pihalla.
I did not understand a thing in the meeting, I was completely lost.
Note Informal and very common in speech, often strengthened to pihalla kuin lumiukko (out in the yard like a snowman).
vetää herneen nenäänsä
Literally to pull a pea into one's nose
Means to get offended and sulk over something trivial
English idiom get one's nose out of joint
Example Hän veti heti herneen nenäänsä pienestäkin huomautuksesta.
He took offence right away at even the smallest remark.
heittää hanskat tiskiin
Literally to throw the gloves onto the counter
Means to give up and quit something
English idiom throw in the towel
Example Hän heitti hanskat tiskiin kesken projektin.
He gave up halfway through the project.
Note Also heard as lyödä hanskat tiskiin.
nostaa kissa pöydälle
Literally to lift the cat onto the table
Means to bring up an uncomfortable topic openly
English idiom address the elephant in the room
Example Kokouksessa joku vihdoin nosti kissan pöydälle ja kysyi irtisanomisista.
At the meeting someone finally brought up the awkward subject and asked about the layoffs.
mennä sukset ristiin
Literally for the skis to go crosswise
Means to fall out with someone, to end up in a dispute
English idiom have a falling out
Example Meillä meni naapurin kanssa sukset ristiin tontin rajasta.
The neighbour and I had a falling out over the property line.
olla puun ja kuoren välissä
Literally to be between the tree and the bark
Means to be caught between two opposing sides with no good option
English idiom between a rock and a hard place
Example Esimies oli puun ja kuoren välissä johdon ja henkilöstön ristiriidassa.
The manager was caught in the middle of the conflict between management and staff.
pitää jäitä hatussa
Literally to keep ice in one's hat
Means to stay calm and not rush into anything
English idiom keep a cool head
Example Pidetään jäitä hatussa, tulokset varmistuvat vasta huomenna.
Let us keep a cool head, the results will not be confirmed until tomorrow.
onni onnettomuudessa
Literally luck in the misfortune
Means the lucky side of an otherwise bad situation
English idiom a silver lining
Example Auto hajosi, mutta onni onnettomuudessa se tapahtui kotipihassa.
The car broke down, but the silver lining was that it happened in our own yard.
mennä puurot ja vellit sekaisin
Literally for the porridges and the gruels to get mixed up
Means to confuse two separate things with each other
English idiom get one's wires crossed
Example Nyt sinulla menivät puurot ja vellit sekaisin, kyse oli eri sopimuksesta.
You have got your wires crossed now, this was about a different contract.
osua naulan kantaan
Literally to hit the head of the nail
Means to say exactly the right thing
English idiom hit the nail on the head
Example Osuit naulan kantaan, juuri siitä tässä on kyse.
You hit the nail on the head, that is exactly what this is about.
olla monta rautaa tulessa
Literally to have many irons in the fire
Means to have several projects going on at the same time
English idiom have many irons in the fire
Example Hänellä on aina monta rautaa tulessa.
She always has several things on the go at once.
maksaa maltaita
Literally to cost malts
Means to be very expensive
English idiom cost an arm and a leg
Example Keskustan vuokra-asunnot maksavat maltaita.
Rental flats in the city centre cost a fortune.
selvä pyy
Literally clear hazel grouse
Means understood, will do, no problem
Example Voisitko hakea leivät kaupasta? Selvä pyy.
Could you get the bread from the shop? Sure thing.
Note A casual spoken reply between friends or close colleagues, not for formal situations.
vetää hatusta
Literally to pull out of the hat
Means to make up a number or an answer on the spot with no real basis
English idiom pull out of thin air
Example Nämä luvut on vedetty hatusta, mitään laskelmia ei ole tehty.
These figures were pulled out of thin air, no calculations were done at all.
ottaa itseään niskasta kiinni
Literally to take oneself by the scruff of the neck
Means to pull oneself together and finally get going
English idiom pull oneself together
Example Nyt on korkea aika ottaa itseään niskasta kiinni ja alkaa opiskella.
It is high time to get a grip and start studying.
mennä kuin Strömsössä
Literally to go like in Strömsö
Means to go perfectly smoothly, without a hitch
English idiom go off without a hitch
Example Kesämökin remontti meni kuin Strömsössä.
The renovation of the summer cottage went off without a hitch.
Note Strömsö is a long-running Finnish lifestyle TV show, and the phrase is often used ironically when things clearly did not go smoothly.
olla kuin kala kuivalla maalla
Literally to be like a fish on dry land
Means to be completely out of one's element
English idiom like a fish out of water
Example Isossa kaupungissa maalaispoika oli kuin kala kuivalla maalla.
In the big city the country boy was like a fish out of water.
lyödä kaksi kärpästä yhdellä iskulla
Literally to hit two flies with one blow
Means to get two things done with a single effort
English idiom kill two birds with one stone
Example Pyörällä töihin mennessä lyöt kaksi kärpästä yhdellä iskulla.
By cycling to work you kill two birds with one stone.
olla jotain hampaankolossa
Literally to have something in the hollow of one's tooth
Means to harbour an old grudge against someone
English idiom have a bone to pick with someone
Example Hänellä on jotain hampaankolossa minua vastaan vanhan riidan takia.
He still holds a grudge against me over an old quarrel.
ei ole kaikki muumit laaksossa
Literally not all the Moomins are in the valley
Means to not be quite right in the head, to be a bit crazy
English idiom not playing with a full deck
Example Hänellä ei taida olla kaikki muumit laaksossa.
I do not think he is quite right in the head.
Note A joke built on the Moomin books, so it sounds rude if you say it about someone seriously.
olla korviaan myöten rakastunut
Literally to be in love up to one's ears
Means to be deeply and completely in love
English idiom head over heels in love
Example Hän on korviaan myöten rakastunut uuteen naapuriinsa.
She is head over heels in love with her new neighbour.
mennä pupu pöksyyn
Literally for the bunny to go into one's pants
Means to get scared and lose one's nerve
English idiom get cold feet
Example Pimeässä metsässä pojalta meni pupu pöksyyn.
In the dark forest the boy lost his nerve.
Note Playful and informal, used with children but also jokingly between adults.
heittää kapuloita rattaisiin
Literally to throw sticks into the wheels
Means to deliberately obstruct or sabotage something
English idiom throw a spanner in the works
Example Kilpailija yritti heittää kapuloita rattaisiimme viime hetkellä.
A competitor tried to throw a spanner in the works at the last moment.
heittää lusikka nurkkaan
Literally to throw the spoon into the corner
Means to die
English idiom kick the bucket
Example Vanha koiramme heitti lusikan nurkkaan viime syksynä.
Our old dog kicked the bucket last autumn.
Note Blunt and jokey, so avoid it when talking seriously about someone's death.
puhua palturia
Literally to speak humbug
Means to talk nonsense, to say things with no truth in them
English idiom talk through one's hat
Example Poliitikko puhui pelkkää palturia koko haastattelun ajan.
The politician talked nothing but nonsense through the whole interview.
Note Colloquial. The noun palturi (nonsense) is nowadays heard almost only in this phrase.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Mennä metsään comes out as "to go into the forest", which makes no sense until you know it means to go wrong, to fail, to miss the mark.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Finnish sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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The most common Finnish idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with mennä metsään, olla pihalla, vetää herneen nenäänsä, heittää hanskat tiskiin, nostaa kissa pöydälle. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This page lists 26 of them with meanings and example sentences.
In Finnish, "mennä metsään" translates literally as "to go into the forest", but it actually means to go wrong, to fail, to miss the mark. The closest English idiom is "go south". Example: Koko suunnitelma meni pahasti metsään. ("The whole plan went badly wrong.")
The Finnish equivalent is "mennä metsään", literally "to go into the forest". Example: Koko suunnitelma meni pahasti metsään. ("The whole plan went badly wrong.")
In Finnish, an idiom is called sanonta, and a proverb is sananlasku. Finnish speakers call a fixed figurative expression a sanonta (the linguistic term is idiomi), while a sananlasku is a proverb, a full sentence that passes on a piece of folk wisdom.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Mennä metsään translates literally as "to go into the forest", yet it means to go wrong, to fail, to miss the mark. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Finnish with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.